


Another Fifty Years

by AlxSteele



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode Fix-it, Everyone is Alive and Nothing Hurts, Fix-It, Happy Ending, Kissing, Love, M/M, Post Season 4, Reunions, happiness, queliot, well it hurts for a minute but thats all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-20 17:31:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18529813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlxSteele/pseuds/AlxSteele
Summary: Q dies but he walks through the door and straight into Eliot who has come to save him.Aka: the ending we deserved.





	Another Fifty Years

**Author's Note:**

  * For [female_overlord_3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/female_overlord_3/gifts).



> For Luna who got me into this show and was there for me through the bitter end of this season. This is the ending we deserved. Or at least closer to the ending we deserved. Also happy late birthday. When I told you I’d write you a magicians fic when I caught up I did not expect it to go like this but here we are. <3<3<3
> 
> I haven’t written fic in nearly a year but. Desperate times. My muse thrives when in pain.  
> I just woke up this morning with this idea and it fell out of me so here we are. This is my first magicians fic so be kind, please!
> 
> unbeta'd.  
> p.s. I've definitely forgotten how to tag so if you feel I've missed an important one let me know and I'll fix it.

Quentin took the card and walked through the door. Not because he wanted to, not because he was even a little bit okay with this, but because what else was he supposed to do? What could he do? He’d died to save his friends. To save the world. And he didn’t regret it.

He _didn’t_. Because Eliot was back and they were all together and they would live and be happy and move on. But fuck. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to be there, with them. With his family.

He wanted to rediscover his love of Fillory. He wanted to watch Alice become head of the library and finally reach her full potential. He realized now, staring at the door, that he didn’t love her like he’d thought he did, like part of him had wanted to, but he did love her. She was one of his best friends and he didn’t want to lose that. He wanted Margo to make fun of him and to tease her about Josh. Wanted to help her get her crown back even though she’d never needed his help. He wanted to be there for Julia like they’d always been there for each other. To eat cake with Josh. To tell Kady that he’d seen Penny, that Penny was fine. He wanted — he just _wanted_ to be _there._

Fillory had promised so much and taken even more. Magic had promised so much and taken even more. He just wanted a little of it back. Just a little. Didn’t he deserve that? After everything it had taken from him?

He just wanted to see Eliot. To live one more lifetime with him. To tell him that it didn’t matter if he didn’t feel the same, that Quentin still loved him and just wanted to be in his life. But he never had gotten what he wanted had he?

There was something painfully ironic about the fact that it was only now, when he was dead, about to move on, that he had time to think about and put words to how much he wanted to live, how much he wanted out of life. He hadn’t wanted to die, he knew that, deep in his gut. But for the last… he didn’t know how long, he’d been so focused on getting magic back. On saving Eliot. That he hardly let himself think of anything else. Of what would come next. Of everything else he wanted. Love. A family. And those were just the things it was easy to put a name to. There was so much else. This all-encompassing feeling in his chest, an unending want, for life. For the life he was promised. For the life he gave up not to die but to save them.

To save them. He’d saved them. And that wasn’t nothing. He could learn to live — not live? — with that. It hadn’t been for nothing. Eliot and Margo, Penny 23 and Julia, Kady and Alice, Josh and Fen, they would all be fine. They were all alive, because of him. The world still had magic, because of him.

You’re gonna be okay, he told himself. They’re gonna be okay. He ignored the selfish voice in his head that said he didn’t want them to be okay without him. He didn’t want to be without them. He’d finally found his family, the place where he belonged, and all he wanted, all he’d ever wanted, was to be with them.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. Looked back at Penny one more time. Penny smiled, a small thing but the only comfort Q had, and nodded.

Eyes closed, Q walked through the door.

***

He was in Fillory. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know. He could feel it. Smell it. No matter how much he hated the world, he would always recognize it.

Maybe it won’t be so bad, he thought. Maybe. Maybe it would be okay.

He swallowed another sob and opened his eyes.

Eliot. Eliot was part of his afterlife. No. It wasn’t real. He had to be seeing things. El’s hair was more wild than usual, somewhere between his normal tamed locks and the chaos of the monster. His clothes were his but disheveled and his eyes were wide as he turned, a disbelieving smile turning up his mouth.

“Q.”

“I - I’m seeing things.” Q rubbed at his eyes, shaking his head. “This is cruel. You’re not - you’re not real. I want you to be. Gods El, I want you to be. I’ve missed you so much and now - now I’m dead.” His voice broke on the last word. He couldn’t help it. “And this isn’t real.”

He couldn’t look at Eliot. Or not-Eliot. Couldn’t see that familiar face, those familiar eyes and that small smile, growing wider as he shook his head.

“I’m real, Q,” he said, sounding so calm. He took a step closer, gaze racking up and down Quentin, something like awe on his face. “It’s me.”

“You’re a hallucination. You - at most you’re my perfect version of the afterlife. You aren’t - you aren’t real.”

“Did you really think we would just leave you here?” Eliot laughed but there was nothing funny about the situation. He took another step like he couldn’t help himself. Quentin stepped back. It was too much. “Let you die to save us? Let you die at all?” Eliot inclined his head. “Come on, Q, you know us better than that.”

Quentin shut his eyes. He couldn’t - he couldn’t let himself believe this might be true. He couldn’t have hope. There was no hope left. But he _wanted_. He wanted to believe. He wanted this to be real. He wanted Eliot. All he’d wanted for a long time was Eliot. Even if it wasn’t how he wanted it. Even if Eliot didn’t feel the same.

“If I’d been an idiot and sacrificed myself to save you - which, by the way you’re one of the only people I would do that for - would you just let me die? Or would you do whatever you could, would you try for the rest of your life, to save me?”

Quentin’s heart beat faster and faster. It _beat_. Like he was alive. Q could barely breathe as he looked up, finally letting himself soak in the sight of Eliot, something he hadn’t stopped and let himself do when they axed him because he’d known if he did, he would fail. If he saw Eliot bleeding out on the ground, he wouldn’t have left. Wouldn’t have made it to the mirror world and it all would’ve been for nothing. But Eliot was here. And he could look. And, just for a minute, he could want.

“Look where we are, Q.”

And for the first time, Quentin looked, and he stopped breathing. The mosaic.

“This isn’t the underworld. This isn’t your afterlife. This is real. You’re real. I’m real. Peaches and plums motherfu-“

Q kissed him. Because peaches and plums had never meant just peaches and plums. It meant; I remember. It meant; I was there. It meant; fifty years, who got proof of concept like that? For Quentin it had meant I love you and in that moment,  he was so fucking hopeful it meant the same to Eliot. So relieved. So happy. He couldn’t stop himself.

But he did. Pressing their lips together in a rough, sloppy, now unpracticed kiss. As soon as he realized, before he could notice that Eliot was gripping him tight, holding him close, and kissing him back, he pulled away.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t —”

Eliot shook his head, holding onto Quentin’s hips where his hands had landed when Q practically jumped him. “Nuh-uh,” he said, one hand trailing up, tucking a piece of loose hair behind Q’s ear before moving to cup the back of his neck. Quentin swallowed hard, breath hitching. Eliot’s eyes were bright, practically shining, looking at him like he was the only thing in the world.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Eliot whispered, leaning in slowly. “I just got you back.”

Eliot kissed him this time, the softest brushing of lips and, in that moment, Q knew it was real. They’d done it. He was alive. This was Fillory not the afterlife. This was Eliot — _Eliot_.

Quentin surged up, wrapping his arms around Eliot and tugging him even closer, turning the kiss into something rushed and ragged and full of desperation but also love. He was alive. They were both _alive_. Tears pricked at his eyes but he didn’t pull away, not until Eliot forced him to, breaking away with a soft laugh.

“Slow down,” Eliot whispered, opening his eyes slowly and resting their foreheads together. He wiped at the tears on Quentin’s face and Q’s heart skipped. “We have time. We have all the time in the world.”

“I —” Quentin broke off in a sob, relief filling every inch of him.

“I know.” Eliot wrapped his arms around Q, pulling him in. Quentin rested his head on Eliot’s chest, clutching at Eliot’s clothes. He just — he needed to feel Eliot, needed to know this was real. He had no idea how long they stood there but it was long enough for Quentin to start to believe it. That, after everything, he would get this, this one thing. He’d get a second chance.

“El…”

Eliot pulled back just enough that they could look at each other. “I was scared,” Eliot said before Q could continue. “Before. When we remembered. I was scared because I don’t feel this way for people, Q. Then everything got messed up and I was — I was coming back to tell you I was wrong and I’m a liar and I want you. I want to try this. I’ve always wanted you. Q, I l —”

Quentin cut him off with a kiss. Soft and sure, like a thousand they’d shared in Fillory. “We have time,” Quentin said when he pulled back. Eyes still closed; they breathed the same air. “Right?”

“I imagine we can get at least another fifty years,” Eliot whispered, voice hoarse. “If you want.”

“I want.” Quentin laughed, shaking his head. “How... How is this possible?”

Eliot cupped Quentin’s cheek and he’d never felt like this before. For the first time in a long time, he felt fully and completely alive.

“Oh, you know. A few deals with gods. Alice worked some library magic now that she’s in charge. Penny 23... traveled? Somewhere? Fen stabbed a few people. Margo threatened. And here we are.”

Opening his eyes, Quentin looked up at him. “And you?

“Me?” Eliot asked, smile turning into a partial frown.

“What did you do?”

“I. Nothing. I did -“

“Used some epic magic if I know you at all.”

“Q… I didn’t do anything.”

“You did.” Quentin shook his head. He never understood how Eliot could not know how amazing he was. Sure, he pretended he knew, but deep down he was filled with just as many insecurities as Quentin. Another fifty years at least. He had another fifty years to make Eliot see. “You didn’t give up. You came for me. You —”

“Of course, I came for you. I’ll always come for you. No matter where you are. No matter what happens. You save me, I save you. That’s how this works.”

Quentin swallowed, finding it hard to breathe.

“This is real?” he asked because he had to be sure.

Eliot grinned. “It’s real Q. You’re alive. You’re back.”

“How?”

“Deals with gods. Library. Original Penny. Remember?”

“How long –“

“It doesn’t matter,” Eliot interrupted, leaning down to kiss the top of Quentin’s head. Warmth flashed through him. “But six months.”

“Six… months. But I just,” he gestured behind him. “The door.”

Eliot shrugged. “Original Penny mentioned that might happen. There was some time magic mixed up in it all. And original Penny did something to the card he gave you, or so I’m told.”

Six months. He’s lost six months of his life but what was the in the long run? Nothing. He’d had fifty years with Eliot and now he could have fifty more. Who the fuck cared about six months?

“You... you do want this right?”

There were many layers to that question, Quentin knew. Did you want to leave that place? Do you want to live? Do you want me? But they all had the same answer and it was easy and he didn’t even have to think for one moment.

“Gods yes.”

Their lips were about to touch again — they had six months to make up for — when the sound of a throat clearing distracted them.

“Okay. I know you’re having a moment, but can we move this along now?”

Quentin jerked back but not far, Eliot’s hand still on his waist. “23?”

Penny rolled his eyes. “Obviously. The others are waiting.”

“The… others. The — yes.” Turning fully to Penny, he grabbed Eliot’s hand in a tight grip. “Let’s go.”

***

They traveled to just outside the physical kids’ cottage like 23 was actually being nice and giving Q a moment. He closed his eyes and couldn’t help but think back to the day he and Alice we’re trapped out there, trying to make their way in. It felt like a lifetime ago and also like mere days ago. So much had happened since then. That day, he’d been out here with Alice, someone he felt attracted to, someone he thought he might fall in love with. And now he was here with Eliot, someone he knew to his very core, someone who there was no doubt in his mind he was completely in love with. Then, it felt like his life was just starting and now, he was getting a second chance at it. He wouldn’t waste it, not a single second.

Clutching Eliot’s hand tighter, he reached out and opened the door, stepping into the cottage.

Everyone was there. Margo paced with a drink in hand and a scowl fixed on her face. Julia was curled on the couch, gaze far away. Fen sat near her, idly twirling a dagger in one hand while she was petting a rabbit with another. Kady and her dog. Alice, back perfectly straight, worry coming off her in waves. Josh walked in with a tray of muffins. The only person missing was Penny 23. The remains of a spell thickened the air but Q barely noticed. He didn’t notice Todd lingering in the background or the small changes to the cottage. Didn’t notice anything but his friends. His family.

They didn’t hear the door open. Quentin smiled to himself, the perfect words coming to him.

“I’m back, bitches.” It came out thicker than intended, tears pricking his eyes but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

Because they turned. They jumped to their feet. And before he knew it, they were rushing him and he was being crushed in the best group hug of his life.

“Don’t you dare fucking pull something like that again, Coldwater,” Margo said, punching him for good measure.

“Q…” Alice’s eyes were wide, filled with tears. He knew she understood though, saw it in her eyes even before she noticed the way he and Eliot still held hands. He knew they would be fine when she just smiled at him, true happiness in her eyes. He hugged her tightly because no matter how he felt about her, he’d always love her.

“Jules…” Quentin couldn’t say anything else and neither could Julia so they just held onto each other.

Everything was a blur. Hugs and tears. Quentin had never felt happier. More loved. More alive than he did in that moment.

Just as things were winding down, Eliot clapping his hands together and announcing they needed drinks, someone else walked in. Seeing two Penny’s in one place was less mind boggling than Quentin would’ve thought. The cottage fell silent until Kady let out a sob and threw herself forward. Original Penny caught her as 23 moved to Julia, wrapping an arm around her waist.

This was what magic was supposed to be, Quentin thought, staring around at his friends. This was where he belonged. In that moment, he knew he’d get everything he wanted because all he wanted was these people. Was Eliot holding his hand and his friends surrounding him. And nothing else mattered. Whatever shit came next, they would face it together, like they always did. And it would suck a lot, and they would win and they would lose like they always did, and he would still have dark moments, they all would, but they were together and that was all that mattered.

Eliot was at his back, arms wrapped around Quentin’s chest. Leaning down, he nosed against the side of his neck before pressing his lips against Quentin’s skin. “Ready for the next fifty years?”

Quentin didn’t bother answering with words. Instead, he turned in Eliot’s embrace and kissed him. Because he was alive, and he was happy, and he could.

**Author's Note:**

> Will I write more magicians fics? Who knows! We’ll see. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are love though and I’d love to hear what you thought of this. I’m also on [Tumblr @imawriteriwrite](http://imawriteriwrite.tumblr.com/) if anyone wants to talk about HOW Q AND ELIOT ARE HAPPY AND IN LOVE AND THE LAST EPISODE NEVER HAPPENED AND DIDN'T DESTROY EVERYTHING AND THE WORLD IS STILL GOOD.  
> <3<3<#


End file.
